New Joni Dispensers on campus
A push towards ending period poverty for all
Sheridan Student Union is proud to announce our new partnership with joni, a B.C.-based company that makes sustainable and affordable pads. After a long journey of scouting the best products and machines to meet both student needs and company objectives, we have purchased joni Dispensers to help bridge the gaps in access and offer free menstrual products inside all SSU washrooms on campus.
Our journey began back in July 2021. At the time, the pandemic had heightened financial distress and limited access to basic health needs. The SSU Services Department explored what students needed access to and how to make it accessible. We embarked on a journey to bring free menstrual products to campus with clear goals in mind. Our mission was rooted in our Strategic Plan and deeply connected to a commitment toward:
Limiting financial distress for students
Erasing the stigma around menstruation
Providing students with free and accessible period care
Throughout the process of bringing free menstrual products to Sheridan, many considerations informed our decisions. Firstly, we wanted to provide students with options, both pads and tampons, from a company that was mindful of our environmental footprint. Second, we wanted to make sure that these products were accessible for everyone- women, trans and non-binary folks- who may need access at any time, while on campus. Finally, we wanted to create an environment that respected the privacy of those in need and created a safe space. For some schools, period care is offered in a bowl, but since we have a larger student body, we needed to find a way to dispense the products easily and responsibly to avoid abuse of the program and more waste.
“When we met with the SSU, we were in the middle of designing our own dispenser for institutions,” joni co-founder and co-ceo Jayesh Vekeriya shared. “In the 30-plus years, dispensers have been in use, there has been no innovation. We created a future-forward machine that also guards against becoming obsolete”. As Jayesh mentioned, most of the machines we often see on campus are tailored for a one-dimension, one-size-fits-all model. The machines themselves all look the same and usually require payment. Period care is different for everyone, and since we are not expected to bring toilet paper with us to the washroom, we believe period care should be the same.
Partnering with joni was the best decision because our values aligned. This partnership even supports 7 of the 17 sustainability Sheridan’s UN Sustainability Goals.
While we worked on bringing joni to campus behind the scenes, in March 2022, we joined Toronto Youth Cabinet, alongside Ontario’s 44 University and College student unions to call for change. In a joint statement, we called on the Government of Ontario to mandate free menstrual products in all post-secondary institutions, campus-wide. Instead of waiting for a solution or for the Government of Ontario to pass a bill, we decided to take a proactive approach and support students’ access to quality education now. By partnering with joni and installing dispensers throughout our campus, the SSU hopes to lead the way in ensuring period care is a basic right and necessity for all students.
The joint statement was signed on March 8, 2022, which is globally known as International Women’s Day. To date, no Ontario post-secondary schools are required to offer free menstrual products and the basic need is still a very costly expense. As we come out of our celebration for International Women’s Day 2023, our partnership with joni reinforces the urgent need for gender equality, representation and inclusive decision-making within institutions.
It cannot go unmentioned that the SSU service department is led by two women and joni is a team of diverse representation as well. Their passion and determination for bringing free menstrual products to Sheridan is in many ways, directly connected to their personal lived experience and perspectives. As we continue to advocate for diversity within leadership positions, moments like this, provide context for why women in leadership can lead to direct change in our campus, community and world.
We hope that our partnership with joni can help ease student’s experience and inspire other SU’s to support menstrual equity in their campuses. Overall, we are proud to offer students access to free menstrual products in all SSU washroom and will continue to work towards menstrual equity for all.
To learn more about how to access joni products on campus, please visit https://www.thessu.ca/sexual-wellness-support.